08/28/2026
A message from Chief Constable Paul Hyland:
(*READERS NOTE - This post contains references to mental health and su***de*)
It has been a difficult few weeks for policing in Canada.
Alongside several officers being shot and injured in the line of duty, there have also been, by my count, five sworn members who have died by su***de. While I do not know what was in their hearts, it is painfully clear that the burdens they carried became too much to bear. My heart breaks for them, their families, their friends, and the colleagues they left behind.
Like much of society, policing still struggles with how to talk about mental health and su***de. I say that uncritically. Stigma, guilt, shame, fear and even helplessness can get in the way of honest conversations. In many ways, I think our fear of talking about these issues is a significant part of the problem itself.
As a police leader, I don't pretend to have the answers on this issue. Staff wellness has been one of my department's highest priorities, as it is in police organizations across Canada, yet mental health and su***de remain persistent challenges for our profession.
We ask a great deal of those who choose this career. We recruit values-driven, service-minded people who want to make a difference, and then ask them to place their physical, mental and emotional well-being on the line every shift. Sometimes their trauma comes from a single critical incident. More often, it is repeated and cumulative exposure to violence, tragedy, suffering and loss, while also having to navigate the same family, relationship, financial, health and personal challenges as everyone else.
To my policing colleagues; check in on your teammates. Reach out when something doesn't seem right. Ask difficult questions. Seek and accept help when you need it and constantly remind one another that none of us has to carry these burdens alone.
And to the public we serve, I only ask for a small measure of grace when we are not at our best (and I am not talking about serious misconduct or dark-hearted behaviour). Please understand that when you see us in uniform, know that we are not superhuman. Police officers are people who chose a profession of service. They feel pain. They carry loss. And sometimes they bring home the weight of what they have seen and experienced. The badge does not make us immune from suffering.
Truthfully, I'm not sure there's a larger point I'm trying to make here. I just felt the need to recognize what has happened over the last few weeks and over the last 30 years of my career. We need to do better, but today, I am simply acknowledging those we have lost, those they left behind, and all those still carrying burdens we may not be able to see.
